Food Security & Agriculture

In order to enhance global cropland information for regional and global food security planning and information on field size, two new global maps have been recently released in the journal Global Change Biology.

2011 and 2012 witnessed two of the worst Great Plains droughts in recent memory, a tragic counterpoint to the damaging floods of 2011 and a return to the stressful times of 1998-2006. Drought is a recurring pattern in this semi-arid region, with severe droughts in the 1890s, 1930s, 1950s and 1980s. Indeed, using tree ring, lake sediment, and dune records, scientists have documented the periodic return of severe droughts. Based on such evidence, some scientists have observed that drought was the dominant feature of climate rather than the exception.

The world’s population is exploding at a rate of 80 million a year. With all those mouths to feed we’re going to need a lot more food – and water and energy too. Growing food uses up 70% of the world’s freshwater, which requires pumping to our taps / pumping to where it’s needed, which in turn requires vast amounts of energy, which in turn affects the climate. Water, energy, food, climate: everything is connected.